Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.
Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in
Swipe for next article
Russian president says Moscow ready to end war on terms agreed in Istanbul
Removed from bookmarks
I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice
Vladimir Putin said he was ready for peace talks with Ukraine days after Kyiv’s renewed assault on Russian oil infrastructure sparked fuel shortages.
Calling the Ukrainian strikes a ploy to “destabilise society”, the president said: “Russia, however, as has been stated repeatedly, is ready for peace negotiations with Ukraine. It is ready to proceed on the basis of the agreements reached back in Istanbul, agreements which, I would remind you, were initiated at the time by the Ukrainian delegation.”
The remarks came after Ukraine’s UN envoy, Andrii Melnyk, warned that Kyiv could reconsider its current ceasefire proposal if there was no meaningful international push to end the war, saying “our patience is not endless”.
Meanwhile, a Trump cabinet member reportedly described Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky as “the special-needs child for the Europeans”, according to a new book released on Tuesday.
Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump recounts a meeting to discuss a proposed minerals deal with Ukraine where US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent is quoted as saying: “I’ve dealt with this little f*****. He’s tricky. He’s like the special-needs child for the Europeans. And he’s acting like Mr Bean on crack.”
Russia has accused the United States of failing to deliver on “understandings” reached between presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump at a summit in Alaska last August, a shift that suggests growing frustration in Moscow.
In the space of three days, three senior Russian officials have said, without providing specifics, that Washington has not followed through.
On Tuesday, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov suggested that the summit may have been a US “ploy to buy time to rearm the Kyiv regime”.
Lavrov’s deputy, Sergei Ryabkov, also accused the US of departing from the “fundamental understandings” reached in Alaska, according to Interfax. It quoted him as saying, however, that dialogue with the US would continue.
“We also see Washington’s line moving closer to the most rabid anti-Russian policies pursued by the US’s closest European allies – namely, the UK and France,” another agency, RIA, quoted Ryabkov as saying, referring to last week’s G7 summit in France.
Ukraine said Tuesday its forces struck a railway bridge, a power plant and other key infrastructure targets in Crimea as Kyiv’s military authorities seek to isolate the vital Russian-held peninsula in the latest stage of the 4-year-old war.
The drone attacks added to the woes on the Black Sea peninsula, where Russian authorities have had to suspend gasoline sales to civilians as Ukraine has intensified its recent campaign to disrupt supply lines and the electrical grid at the height of the summer tourist season.
The peninsula was seized by force and illegally annexed by Moscow in 2014. Ukrainian long-range strikes have highlighted its ability to inflict painful damage on Russia and put added pressure on the Kremlin while Moscow’s advances recently have ground to a near halt, Western analysts and officials say.
Here’s our full report:
Two people have been killed in a Ukrainian drone attack on the Russian region of Nizhny Novgorod, the local governor has said.
An industrial facility was damaged as a result of falling drone debris in the attack, Gleb Nikitin said on Telegram.
The unspecified facility was not damaged critically, he added.
Kyiv has launched yet another attack on Russian-controlled energy infrastructure, this time targeting on Sevastopol power plane in Russian-occupied Crimea.
The drones attacked the main substation, Robert Brovdi, commander of Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces, said on Wednesday.
Mr Brovdi said on Telegram that the drone forces “effectively” worked on 48 operational and planned military targets in Russia and occupied territory in Ukraine’s south overnight.
Russia is considering a diesel export ban, deputy prime minister Alexander Novak said, while a newspaper reported on possible fuel imports to tackle shortages, especially in Crimea, which tightened restrictions on public services and activities.
Speaking at a televised government meeting headed by Vladimir Putin yesterday, Novak said Russia was considering the introduction of a ban on diesel exports and changes to tax legislation to help the domestic fuel market.
The Vedomosti newspaper said imports were raised as an option at a meeting chaired by Novak on Monday.
Novak also said that oil companies had delayed maintenance work at refineries and were using fuel reserves to meet demand.
“We are using reserves that were not previously tapped, and are also encouraging increased supplies of additional volumes to the domestic market. Relevant amendments to tax legislation have been prepared in coordination with the government,” he said.
Nato secretary general Mark Rutte is visiting Washington DC today as part of the final preparations for the 7-8 July summit in Ankara, Nato spokesperson Allison Hart said.
The summit “will focus on how Allies are delivering on the commitments made last year at the Nato Summit in The Hague, including on increasing defence investment, expanding defence industrial production, and continuing support for Ukraine,” Hart said.
The Nato alliance is under unprecedented strain, with some European countries concerned that Washington may withdraw outright, which would be an extraordinary move that would throw into question the future of the alliance.
Trump has in the past threatened to do that.
Rutte is also expected to meet with members of Congress. His visit comes amid claims from the US that there is an “unhealthy co-dependence” by Europe on American forces.
Still, Rutte has maintained strong ties with Pentagon officials, and Hegseth spoke warmly of his leadership at the Brussels event last week.
Russia’s Orenburg region has downed down a number of drones over an industrial facility, governor Yevgeny Solntsev said on Telegram this morning.
It was not immediately clear whether any damages occurred in the region, over 1,000km (621 miles) southeast of Moscow, and home to a number of industrial facilities including a gas processing plant and an oil refinery.
Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte will meet President Donald Trump at the White House today, seeking to ease tensions over the Iran war and US threats to draw down troops in Europe ahead of a pivotal Nato leaders summit in July in Ankara.
Trump, a longtime Nato critic who has called the alliance a “paper tiger,” has been angered by its reluctance to support the US in the Middle East conflict or help reopen the Strait of Hormuz after a US-Israeli attack on Iran on February 28 disrupted the major oil shipping route.
Wednesday’s meeting is likely to see Rutte continue to manage Trump’s hostility towards the alliance and thaw out tense moments.
“I expect he is trying to get on the same page with Trump to make sure that the Nato summit is a success or not a wipeout,” said Stephen Wertheim, senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a Washington-based think tank.
“The Nato summit carries a potential for significant risk because Trump is upset and erratic, and even if Rutte comes and thinks he has an understanding with Trump, who knows what two weeks later will bring,” Wertheim said.
Volodymyr Zelensky will not be attending a high-level conference on the postwar reconstruction of Ukraine to be held in Poland.
Ukraine and Poland are currently engaged in a diplomatic spat after Kyiv renamed named a military unit after one that killed tens of thousands of Poles during the Second World War.
The Ukrainian delegation will now be led by the war-hit nation’s prime minister Yulia Svyrydenko. Earlier, Zelensky was expected to co-host the Ukraine recovery conference to be held in the Polish coastal city of Gdańsk from tomorrow.
The latest rupture came after Polish president Karol Nawrocki stripped Zelensky of the Order of the White Eagle, Poland’s highest state honour.
The move triggered a diplomatic backlash, with several top Ukrainian officials, including Zelensky and three former Ukrainian presidents, relinquishing their own Polish awards.
The city of Sevastopol in Russian-controlled Crimea said it had restricted the operating hours of public transport, shops, cafes and street lights, and had also banned mass outdoor activities, in addition to previously announced fuel sale limits.
Mikhail Razvozhayev, the Russian-installed governor of Sevastopol, home to Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, announced on Monday evening “enforced temporary measures”, including the closure of public transport at 10pm, and of large shops and cafes at 8pm.
Street lighting was dimmed. Anzhelika, a resident of Crimea’s largest city who gave only her first name, told Reuters the measures were good for public safety.
“On the street lights, I think that’s the right thing to do, the protection of the city comes first,” she said.
Russia’s gasoline output last week was down about 25 per cent from the daily average in June 2025, industry sources said.
According to LSEG data and market sources, its seaborne oil product exports were down about 15 per cent in the first half of June compared to the first half of May, due to unplanned refinery maintenance after repeated drone attacks.
Last week, four industry sources said Russia was set to import fuel by sea in June as it seeks to manage the gasoline shortage.
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in
Leave a Reply